It seems like every day there is a shiny new piece of event technology touted as “the next best thing” for managing event details, increasing productivity, collecting registrations and RSVPs, connecting attendees, and so on.

But with more and more event tech solutions available, the anxiety over which option to choose increases. And when you do make a decision, sometimes you are left with the feeling that there was probably a better solution than the one you ended up choosing.

In a world where digital marketing is king, is event marketing irrelevant? No. To build personal connections between consumers and a brand, events are still key — and event marketers are just as in demand as ever. So, what makes an effective event marketer? And as an event marketer, how can you stand out in your career?

Long before social media, event marketers would pay for celebrities to promote their events and add credibility. As social media channels continue to gain popularity, consumers are more wary of what they believe when it comes to brand messaging. 92% of them trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement.

The business case for diversity is well established at this point, said Dorri McWhorter, CEO of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago. McWhorter spoke at Convening Leaders 2018 as a thought leader for Ascent, a new initiative launched by PCMA and Convene to inspire and spur inclusion and diversity in the business-events industry. In her talk, “Break Out of the Bubble — Inclusion to Enrich Your Life,” McWhorter said that gender-diverse companies are 15 percent more likely and ethnically diverse companies are 35 percent more likely to outperform their peers.

The events industry is booming — so how can you stay ahead in a saturated market? Find out in this infographic, using new data from more than 1,000 event creators in the United States and Canada. You’ll discover new insights to help you benchmark against your competition.

If you’re nervous about your next event presentation proposal or the event planning process, we also have you covered. We not only have professional-level information for you on what makes a winning presentation design, but we’ve also compiled this handy information in examples of slide deck using the best practice tips we have discussed and introducing useful content for eventprofs.

As the White House Director of Events during the Clinton Administration, IACC keynote speaker Laura Schwartz created events that represented a nation and inspired the world. Today, as a professional speaker, respected television commentator and author of Eat, Drink & Succeed, Laura shares the secrets to building powerful, effective connections within companies, communities and events.

When Mark Lipton started researching executive leadership effectiveness decades ago, he came upon an alarming trend: A large number of the founding entrepreneurs he read about had a distinct, unfortunate personality trait — meanness. Many of us have heard stories about cold-hearted behavior of leaders such as Steve Jobs or Henry Ford, but Lipton, an adviser to major corporations, start-ups, government agencies, and not-for-profits, feels that the aggression in leaders — in particular, male leaders — goes beyond a handful of examples.

Why was I not surprised to see the first example of an employee who is highly engaged, but also burned out, in this Harvard Business Review article was a conference planner? Like so many of her planner peers, she threw everything she had into planning her event. Sadly, she ended up not leaving enough of herself for herself—she crashed before the conference happened and had to take time off to recover.

Have you ever noticed how you may be on your way to your dream job, body or relationship and somehow, you’ve sabotaged yourself? Why would we consciously or subconsciously derail efforts that are bringing us towards what we believe we want? While a few reasons may be that we’re afraid of change, afraid to put ourselves out there, and afraid to shine, there are many other reasons too.

User-generated content (UGC) is attracting a lot of attention in marketing circles around the world. And it’s not surprising when you consider its many advantages. We know people trust other people, which is why peer-to-peer review sites like TripAdvisor and Foursquare have flourished in recent years. The same is true of social media. In fact, a recent study shows 85% of consumers find UGC more influential than brand-created content.

Are you presenting to colleagues, customers, or are you on a stage in front of a large audience? Then you should definitely read this. Why? Because the following 5 mistakes are made by a lot of presenters, even by the most experienced ones. I often see professionals falling into the same traps when it comes to presenting… And although your charisma, your posture and a flawless delivery are the ideal conditions to ensure a successful delivery, if the presentation, which is designed to improve the speech by adding visual impact, is not at all impactful, the audience’s attention will quickly wander around.

There’s nothing more frustrating than when someone refuses to take responsibility for their behaviors and actions-especially when those behaviors and actions caused harm. While we’re often so willing to overlook and forgive an error in judgment or a transgression, we tend to hang onto it more tightly when the person who caused the harm refuses to own it. So, instead of blaming, making excuses, getting defensive, ignoring it or assuming the other person doesn’t need an explanation or apology, take responsibility for the part you played (whether it was intentional or unintentional) and own it.

One of society’s greatest paradoxes is that we have more connections today than we did in the past but there is less community and conversation. As a conference organizer, you can seed your annual meeting with experiences that nurture authentic conversations, deep connections and community. You don’t have to sacrifice honest talk for today’s casual chat through digital communications or to sidestep sensitive polarizing topics.

The concept of “sustainable” and “green” events is not new. Over the years, we have seen a shift towards making events more eco-friendly. This has been most noticeable with more hotels and convention centers coming up with detailed eco-friendly initiatives. With venues stepping up to the plate, planners and producers (myself included) need to do our part to prioritize sustainability.

Traditionally in cities, tourism boards have strived to attract higher numbers of visitors, while economic development agencies focused on strengthening the local business community and infrastructure. Different government departments worked with each side, but in the big scheme of things, there often wasn’t a lot of collaboration between the people stewarding the growth of their visitor economy and local economy.

I just took an interesting 41-question survey that aims to figure out what event participants value by asking respondents about what types of events they’ve attended recently, what they found most and least useful about the learning formats and technology used, and several other factors about the event experience. It got me thinking.

It's not much of a stretch to assume that most people frequent the local cafe. Maybe this is part of your daily routine or maybe just a weekend tradition. Either way, it's easy for people to fall into a pattern of ordering a coffee drink and throwing out the disposable cup. Let's face it, habits are hard to break. When we're presented with options that feel easy in the moment, it can certainly feel hard to make a change.

Make 2018 the year of memorable meeting experiences. Attendees are demanding it. They want to move beyond lectures to more personal experiences, more networking, and more creativity. But how do you do that? What does this mean for the meeting environment? Here’s my take on what’s happening—and what needs to happen—in your meeting environment in the year ahead.

We’re lonely. And not just a little lonely. We’re experiencing a global epidemic level of loneliness. Last week, the U.K. appointed Tracey Crouch as the Minister of Loneliness after the British parliament released a five year study on loneliness that found more than 9 million people in the country reported they often or always feel lonely. Across the globe, loneliness is fast becoming one of our most serious health epidemics and is a greater predictor of early death than obesity, smoking and excessive drinking. So what does this mean for those of us responsible for organizing and executing conferences and events? A lot!

Meeting planning is consistently named one of the most stressful jobs—and stressed-out meeting planners tend to create stressful meetings. Mindful meeting professionals who practice being fully present in the moment without judgment tend to also plan their meetings more mindfully. The resulting events create deeper connections and more learning.

With each passing year, technology continues to propel the events industry to new heights. Whether it be improvements in event marketing attribution, more robust event tools, or stronger event data security, the collective advancement of technology plays a significant role in the evolution of the events industry. And among the event trends that continue to shape the space, virtual and augmented reality have become key catalysts for innovation.

Whether you are a school leaver, keen to enter the crazy and exciting world of event and meeting planning, switching from a different career path or looking for education and qualifications to increase your job prospects for promotions and advancement it can be overwhelming assessing all of the options.

We’ve just returned from a jam-packed PCMA Convening Leadersprogram, and presentations by three very different keynoters — each inspiring in their own way — are still playing in my head. Opening General Session speaker Neri Oxman, architect, designer, inventor, and MIT Media Lab associate professor, spoke about “the future of making,” and how we are transcending boundaries with biomaterials. It captured the audience’s imagination, even if some tweeted that it was hard for them to know how to apply what she presented to their work.

After the epically awful 2017 hurricane season wreaked destruction from Texas to Florida to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, meeting professionals with future events booked in affected areas are grappling with a tough question: Should we stay or should we go? Will their organization and attendees be better served by cancelling and relocating the program, or stay the course at the original destination and hope the lights will be on and the AV running by the meeting’s scheduled dates?

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Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.